


what am i to you

by orphan_account



Category: Block B, Jay Park (Musician)
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Canon Compliant, Chatting & Messaging, Fluff, For the most part, Jaebeom-centric, Jealousy, Kinda, M/M, Party Games, Pre-Slash, Swearing, non-au, sorry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-14
Updated: 2016-07-14
Packaged: 2018-07-19 21:21:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7377844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jiho might have a crush, and it only takes him a few beers and the wise words of a friend to give him the courage to do something about it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	what am i to you

**Author's Note:**

> well  
> i originally intended for this to be kinda smutty  
> but then it accidentally got kinda lovey-dovey and now it's this trash  
> woops haha
> 
> also thank you to @kkoala  
> for proofreading and encouraging me along the way  
> love you

Jaebeom was bored.

Sure, there were lots of things he could be doing right now. The life of an idol was a busy one, and he honestly should be thankful for this break he was given. It wasn't much, three days to himself after participating in a small photoshoot, but it was something. With his work as a producer and an artist himself, he should be taking this time to really relax and do the things he's been wanting to do but never had the chance to, like go swimming in the ocean or something. But in his eagerness, he managed to do everything he wanted on the first day after his photoshoot, and now he was laying on the bed in his hotel room, limbs spread in every direction as he stared up at the ceiling. 

He was so bored.

That was why he was never more thankful to hear the telltale _ping!_ of his phone, indicating a new message on KakaoTalk. He sat up quickly, reaching over to grab his phone from the nightstand. Jaebeom tilted his head to one side and then the other, the sound of his neck cracking music to his ears as he opened up the app. He wasn't sure exactly who he expected the message to be from, but he certainly wasn't expecting it to be him.

 

 **14:02 | zahco:** hey stranger ;)

 

He couldn't help the huff of laughter that escaped him as he looked at the message, shaking his head.

 

 **14:03 | jpark:** what

 **14:03 | zahco:** wow rude

 

Jaebeom hid his smile behind his hand as he chuckled, even though the other man couldn't see him.

 

 **14:04 | zahco:** i wanted to see what u were up to. u havea break right?

 **14:05 | jpark:** yeah

 **14:05 | zahco:** so? whats up?

 **14:06 | jpark:** nothing atm you?

_zahco is typing . . ._

 

Jaebeom stared at the screen, patiently waiting as his brow crinkled in curiosity. After a few minutes, he began to wonder what the hell Jiho was typing that was taking so long. He wasn't particularly in the mood to read a wall of text. He was starting to think that Jiho had only messaged him because he needed someone to vent to or something, because the question didn't exactly merit a paragraph-long response otherwise, when he finally received a new message.

 

 **14:10 | zahco:** sry there was a knock at the door. just someone with the wrong apartment. anyway i was planning a little get together tonight. was wondering if maybe u wanted to come? since ur in the area

 **14:11 | zahco:** unless ur busy

 

Jaebeom rolled his eyes at the anticlimactic response before lifting his head, peering off toward the other side of the hotel room. He sucked his bottom lip in between his teeth as he thought about it, hand unconsciously going to his elbow to scratch at an itch. It certainly didn't sound like a bad idea, because really, what was he going to do with his night anyway? Probably watch TV until he fell asleep at like 9 PM. He shuddered at the thought, hating how much of an old man that made him feel like.

 

 **14:12 | jpark:** yeah sure

 **14:13 | zahco:** awesome! its just gonna be us and the guys so dw about like dressing up or anything

 **14:13 | zahco:** plan to be here like 6?

 **14:14 | jpark:** sure thanks for the invite :)

 **14:15 | zahco:** np man cya

 **14:15 | jpark:** cya

 

Tossing his phone aside on the bed, Jaebeom let out a sigh. He toyed with his nose stud as he stared at the clock on the bedside table, numbers running through his mind as he thought about what to do to get ready and how long it would all take. He wondered if he should grab dinner before he went over, but he didn't really want to stop at a restaurant and the room service here was a joke. Besides, surely Jiho would have some food at this "get together".

Jaebeom got up and went into the bathroom to take a shower, making sure to thoroughly scrub himself clean since he did a piss-poor job of it after he got out of the ocean yesterday. Really, he still smelled vaguely of fish and he was sure there were grains of sand still stuck to his skin somewhere, if they weren't spread all over his mattress from where he spent the night and most of the day today.

He stepped out of the shower to stand in front of the fogged-up mirror, carelessly wiping his palm over it in order to see himself properly. Jaebeom spent the next few minutes brushing his teeth and shaving the barely-there hairs on his upper lip and chin, feeling the now-smooth skin with one hand. Yawning softly, he removed the towel he had tucked around his waist and rubbed at his hair with it until it was no longer dripping all over the place. He tossed the damp towel into the hamper and went back out into the bedroom to look for something to wear.

He browsed through the top drawer of the dresser the TV was perched on, humming to himself as he moved shirts out of the way which he deemed unacceptable. He looked up, however, when he heard a soft _ping!_ on the other side of the room where his phone sat. Jaebeom grabbed a pair of boxers and slipped them on before walking over to the bed and sitting on the edge, stretching backwards to grab the phone and unlock it.

 

 **15:01 | zahco:** hey bring beer! ;) fucking jihoon drank all of mine. id go get more but im busy

 

Jaebeom rolled his eyes. If by "busy", the man meant "lazy", then he would be inclined to agree. Not that he had a problem bringing the drinks, but sometimes Jiho was too much.

He set the phone down beside him and got up to continue looking for an outfit, taking his sweet time because he knew he still had like 2 hours to get ready before he had to start heading to Jiho's apartment. He probably could've started later, but Jaebeom was never really the best at time management and was often either too early or too late when left to his own devices. He almost wished he had, that way he could've taken a nap or something before his shower, but now he didn't want to mess up his hair since he didn't have a flat iron with him and he definitely was not going to try to wrestle with bed head.

Jaebeom settled on a plain white v-neck and a pair of ripped black jeans with the occasional studs here and there. He set both on the back of a nearby chair, going over to take a seat on the bed. He sat there, hands folded in his lap, as he stared in the direction of the TV and let out a sigh. Literally all he had to do now was get dressed, which would take him like five minutes, _maybe_ ten if he was really slow about it.

"Well, fuck," he said with a sigh, smacking his hands on his knees. Now what? Jaebeom let out a huff and crawled toward the pillows, snatching his phone along the way. He grabbed the TV remote and turned it on, settling against the headboard with one leg bent at the knee and the other dangling partially off the side of the bed. He rested an elbow on top of his knee as he unlocked his phone, opening up Piano Tiles 2, despite the feeling of hatred he had cultivated for it over the few days he had the app on his phone. Originally, he had really enjoyed it and thought it was a really fun way to pass time, but when Hyukwoo proceeded to take the phone from him and practically beat every single one of his high scores, Jaebeom grew competitive.

Now, he cursed and groaned as he tried again and again to beat his own score on a song and hopefully put Hyukwoo in his place when he showed him how much better he had gotten at the game.

Time seemed to fly by despite the pain and agony he felt as he repeatedly fucked up, and Jaebeom glanced at the clock beside him to find that it was nearly 4:30 PM. His phone was almost dead from the constant usage for so long, so he plugged it in to charge and switched his attention to the television. He never watched a program for more than five minutes, surfing the channels to see what he could find. It was incredibly boring in his opinion, but thankfully the show that was currently on was ending, which meant that it must be 5 PM.

Jaebeom quickly got up, thankful that it was finally time. He wasn't very fond of waiting. Going over to the chair, he grabbed his jeans and pulled them on, followed by his t-shirt. He used the screen of the television as a mirror as he carded his fingers messily through his wavy hair, doing his best to achieve that sexy, disheveled look because even though it was just going to be him and "the guys", as Jiho put it, he was going to look his best. He went over to the door to grab his sneakers beside it and took a seat on the nearby bed in order to pull them on. Once they were laced up, Jaebeom turned to his phone, which was only a little over half charged at this point. Frowning, he grabbed it and shoved it into his pocket. If need be, he was sure someone would let him borrow their phone. Jiho probably had a charger he could use anyway.

After deeming himself ready, Jaebeom picked his wallet up off of the nightstand and slipped it into his back pocket along with his keycard for the hotel room. A pair of sunglasses in hand, he paused momentarily by the door as he debated bringing a jacket since it was a rather warm evening. Though, he reasoned, the temperature was sure to drop as the sun went down. He snatched his leather jacket off of the hook on the closet door and then left the hotel room, pulling the jacket on eventually when he stepped into the elevator because he didn't feel like carrying it, especially when he knew he was going to have to carry a case of beer.

He exited the hotel and started down the street towards Jiho's apartment building, which, when he thought about it, wasn't really all that far away. Though, of course, it did take longer on foot, but at least Jaebeom got to do a little sight-seeing along the way. Despite being down this street plenty of times before, there was always something new or exciting to grab his attention. This time, it was the beautiful pink and white blooming trees that lined the opposite sidewalk, illuminated by the slowly descending sun. He had his hands shoved in his pockets as he walked at a leisurely pace down the street, his roaming eyes hidden behind his glasses.

After a few minutes, Jaebeom came across a liquor shop, which he entered without a second thought. It wasn't a shop he'd ever visited before, but he didn't care if it was quality or not, as long as he didn't show up at Jiho's empty-handed. One starstruck cashier and an autograph later, Jaebeom left the shop with two cases of beer and a bottle of expensive red wine, all on the house, despite Jaebeom's protests. Huffing a sigh, he adjusted his grip on one of the cases in order to have a better hold on the handle of the bag containing the wine that dug into his wrist.

By the time he made it to the apartment complex, Jaebeom was embarrassingly slightly out of breath. He set a case on the ground in order to press the call button for the apartment on the top floor, and when the front door was unlocked, he was never more glad to see the elevator when he stepped inside. There was no way he would make it up the stairs with the heavy load.

When the elevator stopped and the doors opened, Jaebeom stepped out into the hallway and made his way to Jiho's apartment door. He breathed a sigh of relief as he set the case down once more to knock on the door, which was answered seconds later and he was greeted by Jiho's smiling face.

"Jay!" the younger man said with a smile before looking down at the items in Jaebeom's hands. "Wow, are you trying to get us all plastered?," Jiho asked with amusement as he eyed the alcohol. 

"Hey, you wanted beer," Jaebeom retorted, chuckling, before suddenly stepping forward and forcing the case he was holding into Jiho's hands. "It's getting heavy."

Jiho didn't seem to mind and happily went off toward the kitchen to put the beer away. Jaebeom grabbed the case on the floor and stepped inside, shutting the door behind him and smiling warmly at the faces that turned to him.

"Hey guys," he greeted with a little wave before following Jiho into the kitchen, where he set the case and the wine bottle down on the counter gently as Jiho stuck beer bottles into the refrigerator. He went over to the other male and bent down to grab a couple of bottles himself, placing them in the door of the fridge. It took almost no time at all for them to empty the case and Jiho set it on the counter to discard of it later, turning to Jaebeom.

"Thanks," Jiho told him, running a hand through his hair to push it back out of his face. "Uh.. can I take your jacket or something?"

Jaebeom's mouth curved upward in the hint of a smile at Jiho's attempt at being a polite host and he decided to indulge him, despite feeling odd about it since he was used to the sarcastic, joking Jiho. The leather slipped easily enough from his shoulders with a simple shrug and he handed the garment to Jiho, who he noticed had his gaze fixed on his now-exposed skin. Jaebeom raised a carved eyebrow after removing his sunglasses, moving his head into Jiho's line of sight and waving at him. "Hello?"

"You got more tattoos since I last saw you," was the other man's response as his eyes flicked up to Jaebeom's. He offered him a sheepish grin before taking the jacket and exiting the kitchen to set it on a hook by the door.

Jaebeom laughed and followed him out into the main room, going over to plop down on the couch beside Yukwon. He offered the man a smile as he settled back against the cushions, an arm resting along the top of the back of the sofa. He leaned toward the singer as he moved to face everyone sitting on various pieces of furniture in the room and he noticed the younger man leaned in as well, not seeming to mind Jaebeom's arm which was pretty much around him with the way they were sitting. Jaebeom didn't think much of it, though, and turned his attention to the rest of their group.

Jiho came over, stopping beside the couch as he looked down at Jaebeom and Yukwon, an unreadable expression on his face. Jaebeom watched Jiho's Adam's apple bob in his throat as he swallowed before the younger man went off toward the kitchen, returning with a few bottles of beer in his hands. He set all but two of them onto the coffee table and Jaebeom laughed softly behind the back of his hand as they all scrambled to grab a bottle, everyone getting one except for Taeil who insisted he didn't want one and Jihoon who sat pouting in his seat.

"Serves you right for drinking all my beer earlier," Jiho told him with a grin as he leaned over to hand Jaebeom one of the beers he had saved, their fingertips brushing against one another for a brief second, before he took a seat on the opposite side of Yukwon and set his feet on the edge of the coffee table. Jaebeom thanked him and clinked his bottle with Yukwon's when the singer offered before taking a long drink of the beverage. He could feel a pair of eyes burning holes in the side of his face, but he didn't dare look over.

They spent a good while just catching up, talking about everything and nothing. Everyone shared what they had been up to lately, cracking jokes and telling funny stories from vacations or interesting things about work. Jiho asked Jaebeom about his tattoos, how many he had now and when he got them. Jaebeom told him he had no idea how many he had, there were too many to count and some of them blended together which made it more difficult. He told him about his most recent one from a few weeks ago, and he noticed that, while everyone was listening and speaking up every so often, no one seemed to pay quite as much attention as Jiho. It was as if he found Jaebeom's tattoos to be the singlemost interesting thing ever, and the elder man found himself shyly smiling at Jiho's compliments, a faint blush on his cheeks as he tried to deflect Jiho's attention onto something else.

"How's the comeback going?" Jaebeom asked, which seemed to perk everybody up as they all began to talk at the same time, each expressing their feelings on the matter, which was overall very positive.

Once the conversation died down and a silence fell over them, Jiho finished off his beer and leaned forward to set the empty bottle down on the coffee table.

"Hey, how about we play a game?" he proposed, looking around at the faces. At the sounds of approval he had received, he sat forward on the couch, hands folded in between his knees. "What do you want to play?" he asked the room.

There was some murmuring and muffled laughter before Taeil spoke up. "Paranoia?" he suggested with a shrug.

Jiho raised an eyebrow at his hyung in surprise, not expecting the quiet man to suggest such a game. "Really? Alright."

"What's Paranoia?" Jaebeom asked, looking between the two younger males curiously.

"Okay, I'll explain the rules," Jiho said as he leaned back against the couch, lifting his hips as he dug around in his front pocket for a moment before producing a coin and setting it down on the table.

"Basically, we all get in a circle. Whoever starts has to whisper a question to the person on their right and then that person has to answer the question out loud for everyone to hear. Then one of us will flip a coin, and if it lands on heads, the asker has to say the question out loud to the whole group. If it lands on tails, then the asker doesn't say anything and we will never know what the question was. And we just go around the circle like that."

"Sounds like fun," Jaebeom said when he was finished. "I'm in."

Jiho looked over at him with a small smile, perhaps staring just a second too long before tearing his gaze away and standing up. He pushed the coffee table off to the side towards the wall to make room, snatching the coin off of it, and gestured for everyone to pop a squat on the floor as he took a seat himself, back pressed up against the couch. Yukwon sat to his right, again separating him from Jaebeom who sat on the other of the singer, arms propping him up behind him as he leaned back, one leg crossed over the other.

They did rock, paper, scissors to figure out who would start. The unfortunate soul, Kyung, frowned as he tried to come up with a question to ask Jihoon, who was patiently waiting with an amused grin on his face as he exchanged looks with Minhyuk next to him. After another few moments, Kyung's face lit up and he excitedly leaned over, covering his mouth with his hand as he whispered to Jihoon, who laughed loudly before saying yes and chuckling some after that. Smiling, Jiho flipped the coin into the air and everyone watched as it landed tails up on the floor, groaning at the result. They were curious what Kyung had said to make Jihoon laugh so hard, and Taeil was especially disappointed as he stared at the smiling two with a pout.

Jihoon shook his head as his laughter finally subsided and he leaned over to ask Minhyuk a question. They went around the circle a couple of times, most of them getting lucky with tails, but the occasional heads had the whole room laughing, and honestly Jaebeom was having such a good time. He was really glad he agreed to come over. He originally wasn't sure about it, seeing as how he was the oldest one here, and he didn't know if he would enjoy himself with the younger males. Of course, they were always fun to be around, but as much as he hated to think it, he wasn't sure if he could _keep up_ with them. Jaebeom wasn't _that_ much older, and he certainly didn't feel 30, but that didn't stop him from feeling like he was babysitting a bunch of kids right now. Even so, he was having fun with the group.

An involuntary shiver went down his spine when Yukwon leaned over, his lips brushing the shell of Jaebeom's ear. He could feel the singer's smile, rather than see it, and he averted his gaze to the floor as Yukwon asked his question. 

"Jaebeom-hyung," he started softly. "Do you have any tattoos below the belt?" The man spoke slowly, almost sensually, and Jaebeom's eyes widened comically as he began coughing, choking on the sip of beer he had taken. Yukwon began laughing, clutching his stomach as he threatened to topple over. Everyone looked at him curiously as his face heated up, a small ' _yes_ ' escaping his lips.

Brow furrowed at the two, Jiho flipped the coin in the air and almost let out a relieved sigh when it landed heads up. He wasn't sure he would be able to survive the rest of the night not knowing what Yukwon asked. Yukwon looked at the coin and then lifted his head to look around at everyone with a smile on his face.

"I asked him if he had any tattoos where we couldn't see. You know, like, below the belt."

Jiho's own eyes widened as he looked at the blushing face of Jaebeom, who was busy memorizing the details of the hardwood floor and oriental rug beneath them, while the others laughed and made little ' _ooo_ ' sounds. Slowly, his gaze fell to the older man's denim-clad thighs as he tried to spot anything peeking out of the holes in the ripped jeans. Jaebeom glanced up at that moment and their eyes met, the two staring at one another for a good few seconds before Jaebeom realized it was his turn, and he leaned over to ask Jaehyo a question.

Honestly, Jiho hadn't been paying much attention to the others as they asked and answered. Kyung had taken the coin from him to take over the flipping duty while Jiho half zoned out. He thought a lot about the information he had just found out, wondering what other tattoos Jaebeom had and _where_. He couldn't stop his mind from wandering places it probably shouldn't, especially when he was having such a nice time with his friends. Still, his curiosity was eating away at him, and _god_ he wanted to know. More than that, he wanted to _see_.

He was startled out of his thoughts when he heard Minhyuk's voice suddenly right beside him, asking him an innocent, "What idol do you absolutely _fanboy_ over?"

To which, Jiho (embarrassingly) immediately replied, "Jay Park."

Jaebeom looked over at him curiously when he heard his name, head tilted slightly while Kyung flipped the coin. Jiho was never more thankful for a tails than he was in that moment. He didn't miss the questioning look on the older man's face, nor did he look at it for very long because he didn't want to see it when Jaebeom mouthed the words ' _What about me?_ ' and inevitably have to answer him. He leaned over to Yukwon, but he didn't speak right away, thinking about what he wanted to say.

"'Kwonie," he whispered behind his hand. "You should ask Jay-hyung who, out of all of us here, he would most like to date." Jiho said it in such a way that he could pass it off as a joke, just something to rile Jaebeom up. He waited until he saw the small smile and the subtle nod of Yukwon's head, showing he understood, before continuing with his question. "While we're on the topic, who do you think is the most attractive member of Block B?" This time he did mean to tease the older male, chuckling softly as he pulled away.

And it only took Yukwon a mere second before answering, "Me, of course." He looked at Jiho with a grin, making a show of running his hand through his hair and winking at the leader. They didn't have to flip the coin to know what Jiho's question was, and they laughed at Yukwon's display before the singer added: "Nah, definitely Jihoon-ah. He's very handsome." Yukwon smiled gently over at the maknae, whose cheeks were tinted a soft pink as he returned the expression. Jiho looked between them, blinking with slight confusion. _Were they... a thing?_

Jiho didn't dwell on the thought for very long before his attention went to Yukwon as he leaned over to Jaebeom to ask the question Jiho was probably too curious about.

Jaebeom's mouth was open in a smile, his perfect teeth showing and his brow crinkling with amusement as he waited for Yukwon to say something. The younger male was too busy trying to control his soft giggles as he worked up to the question, and when he finally did, Jaebeom's smile turned into a perfect 'o' shape and his face turned even redder than before.

"Hyung, name the Block B member you would fuck if you had to pick." So he had paraphrased a little bit.

Jaebeom cleared his throat, thumb rubbing the embossed symbol on neck of his beer bottle nervously as he looked across the circle at Jihoon, who was looking at him expectantly. Slowly, his gaze raked over the others as he went around the circle, stopping on Yukwon beside him. He debated, briefly, cracking a joke like Yukwon had, maybe saying all of them, or proclaiming the only person good enough for him was himself. But he didn't. He answered honestly.

"Jiho."

Jiho was pretty sure he had forgotten how to breathe. The longer it took for Jaebeom to say something, the more he started to wonder if this was really a good idea. What would Jiho do if the man answered with someone else? What would he do if Jaebeom picked Yukwon, who had been really (annoyingly) friendly with him all night? He would feel like a goddamn idiot, that's what. Sure, he may not have been very vocal about his feelings for the older man, feelings he wasn't entirely sure how to describe other than a childish crush. But, out of all of them, he always thought he and Jay were the closest. They were friends, they hung out together all the time. So Jiho had been hopeful, expecting Jaebeom to pick him, if only because of the fact that Jiho knew him slightly better than the rest of the group.

When he heard his name, though, he fucking melted. His eyes never left Jaebeom the entire time he debated his answer, and when he spoke up, Jiho didn't respond dramatically. There was no snapping of his head at the sound of his name, no widening of his eyes or gaping of his mouth. He had always been good at internalizing his emotions. That was probably why his only reaction was a curious quirk of an eyebrow and the thundering of his heart as it went into overdrive.

Jaebeom was staring back at Jiho. He didn't miss the rapper's unreadable expression (for the second time that night). He wasn't sure what he had expected, really, since Jiho didn't know what the question was and only Yukwon knew the reason why he was so furiously blushing. Perhaps he thought Jiho could somehow read his mind and was afraid he would figure it out and tease him about it, or worse, be disgusted. So he was glad that, instead, all he was met with was a look of wonder on Jiho's face before they both turned to watch as Kyung flipped the coin.

Of course, it was just his luck. Everybody cheered excitedly when the coin landed heads up and Jaebeom was about ready to puke. Whoever invented this game was a horrible person for making him go through this. Of course, Taeil was the one to suggest they play it, but even though strangling him was much more tangible, he could never bring himself to be angry at the kid. Especially when his face had its own natural aegyo.

Beside him, Yukwon was fucking snickering. "I asked who he'd bang out of Block B," he supplied when everyone stared at him with questioning looks.

That had them all howling. Cue the incessant teasing.

It had to have been at least five minutes before they could proceed with the next question, and even then, they were still giggling every so often and glancing at Jaebeom with amusement because he was _still_ blushing like a teenager and _christ_ , he wanted to die right now.

They went another round and a half before they decided to take a break. Jiho got up to head into the kitchen where he grabbed another beer from the fridge. Leaning against the counter, he popped it open and brought it to his mouth, taking a nice long drink of the amber liquid. Yukwon sauntered into the kitchen a few moments later, Jihoon following close behind as they each grabbed themselves a drink too, Jihoon heading back out into the living room.

"Why did you do that?" Jiho asked Yukwon softly when the older man jumped up on the counter to sit beside him.

"Do what?" the singer asked, glancing at him, his hands wrapped around the bottle as he swung his legs back and forth gently.

Jiho sighed, taking another drink of his beer before setting it down. "I said date, not bang."

Yukwon looked confused momentarily as he stared at the leader, realization setting in. He shrugged lightly and looked down at his lap. "Does it make a difference?"

"Yeah, hyung, it does."

The black-haired man let out a soft sigh as he lifted his head to gaze at Jiho, a small frown on his lips. "Don't be stupid, Jiho-ah. You could have sex with Jaebeom-hyung and nobody would bat an eye. But dating is out of the question. He's six years older than you, which isn't that big of a deal but to a lot of people, it's scandalous. You're both idols, and you're both guys. Even you should know that it simply wouldn't work out."

Despite the harsh, soul-crushing words his hyung delivered, he spoke with a gentle tone. One that Jiho knew was full of concern, because he knew Yukwon cared about him and his career.

It was silent for a little while as Jiho thought, the rest of his beer gone by the time he spoke again. "I like him, hyung."

Yukwon shut his eyes, exhaling through his nose. He ran a hand through his hair, rubbing at it, before scooting off of the counter to stand in front of Jiho. "Aish, why are you such a kid still?" he asked teasingly, pushing Jiho's shoulder gently and smiling when he saw the corners of the blonde's mouth upturn.

"I'm not gonna tell you how to live your life, Jiho. I promise, no one here is going to think any less of you if you pursue this. As long as you understand that it'll be extremely hard to hide it from the media, and when people start finding out, there's gonna be a lot of upset fans and critics. Granted, there's probably a lot of people that would love a story like this," Yukwon lifted a shoulder in a considerate shrug, smiling gently, "but you gotta be prepared for some backlash."

Jiho nodded along, rubbing his palms over his face. "Yeah, yeah. Don't you think I know all that?"

Yukwon lifted his chin as he looked at Jiho, tilting his head ever so slightly so that he could meet his eyes. "Alright then," he concluded, leaning over to snatch his beer off the counter. He turned to leave the kitchen before he was stopped by Jiho's voice.

"One last question."

"Yeah?"

A pause.

"Are you and Jihoon fucking?"

Yukwon let out a laugh as he looked over his shoulder at Jiho, shaking his head with amusement. "You caught on?" he replied with a raised eyebrow, tapping his beer bottle with his index finger pointedly before grinning and heading back out into the living room to rejoin the others. Jiho grinned and stood there for awhile longer, collecting himself and his thoughts, before following after.

He spotted Jaebeom sitting on the floor with his back up against the couch, watching from the sidelines as Jaehyo and Minhyuk got into a heated debate about something. Taeil and Kyung were leaning against one another on the couch as they carried on their own separate conversation, and Yukwon was busy teasing Jihoon from where he was perched on the maknae's lap.

Jiho went over to Jaebeom and smiled down at him, his heart fluttering when the smile was returned.

"Can I talk to you?"

**Author's Note:**

> boom  
> suck on that cliffhanger  
> i might add more idk?
> 
> also for anyone confused, the order of the circle goes: kyung > jihoon > minhyuk > jiho > yukwon > jay > jaehyo > taeil
> 
> comments/kudos give me life  
> so does jay park


End file.
